There is an increasing diffusion of servo gear-changes that are structurally similar to a manual gear-change of a traditional type except for the fact that the clutch pedal and the gear lever actuated by the driver are replaced by corresponding electrical or hydraulic servo controls.
Using a servo gear-change, the driver must simply send (for example, using two levers set on the opposite sides of the steering column), to a control unit for controlling the transmission for passing to a higher gear or else to a lower gear, and the control unit of the transmission autonomously carries out the gear change by acting both on the engine and on the servo controls associated to clutch and the gear-change.
The use of a servo gear-change is extremely simple and intuitive in almost all driving situations; however, also using a servo gear-change execution of a start on an uphill slope (i.e., starting the vehicle when it is standing still on an uphill slope) can prove problematical for a beginner, particularly when it is not possible to allow any movement backwards of the vehicle (for example, when another vehicle is in a queue immediately behind him).